UAE shares rose yesterday as trading resumed following holidays for Commemoration Day and National Day, with investors looking to the global positive trading outlook and the fact that some blue chips may have been oversold as cues to buy.
Indexes across the Arabian Gulf edged up on the back of positive sentiment in Europe and the United States, combined with optimism that the long-running conflict in Yemen may be entering a decisive phase.
“The global backdrop was conducive to small gains here in the UAE,” said Julian Bruce, head of institutional trading at the Egyptian investment bank EFG Hermes in Dubai.
Futures markets in the US signalled the S&P 500 would hit a new all-time high yesterday evening UAE time, after the US Senate approved president Donald Trump’s sweeping tax cuts.
“Investors have also had a few days to mull over the fact that some big names like Emaar Properties might have been oversold following the rebalance of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index last Wednesday, leaving room for buyers to come in,” said Mr Bruce.
Emaar Properties shares led gains in Dubai, rising 2.8 per cent to Dh7.76. The emirate’s index closed 0.3 per cent higher.
Abu Dhabi stocks, meanwhile, had their best day in more than four months, closing up 1 per cent thanks to gains from First Abu Dhabi Bank and Etisalat.
______
Read more:
Three key events that will help shape the financial markets in 2018
[ Sterling slips from two-month high on Irish border worries ]
______
Investors were seemingly unfazed by reports on Sunday that Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels had fired a cruise missile in the direction of the UAE's under-construction nuclear plant in Abu Dhabi's Al Gharbia region. The UAE denied there had been any such attack.
Saudi stocks closed 0.2 per cent higher, their ninth consecutive positive close.
Real estate and construction stocks led gains, including Jabal Omar Development, Dar Al Arkan Real Estate and Southern Province Cement. Such companies are likely to benefit from reconstruction efforts in Yemen when the conflict in the country abates.
